Minced Oath Fail

A minced oath is a mild substitute for a nastier profanity. Myself, I avoid both the real thing and the mild version.

I say what I actually mean. Consequently, my English is a pretty good means of communication.

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Aren’t we supposed to say puns are bad if they’re good?

The last post was all work, so this post is all play.

Okay, let’s go for two:

Second panel. He’s correct about the spelling, but incorrect about his companion.

Do you know how to make those accents?

Instead of typing the “e,” hold down the Alt key then type 0233 on the numeric keypad then release the Alt key.

On a Mac: Hold down the Option key, and while holding it down, type the letter e; then release those keys and type e again. In Mac notation, this is written Opt+e, e.

This post first appeared on The Writing Rag.

People commonly put “only” at the beginning of a clause when the word actually modifies a word within the clause (for example, in the first panel below). The rule is that adjectives (such as “only”) modify the word following. Putting that “only” too early can lead to nonsense.

On the second try, this guy gets it right. Third panel. Think what he’d be saying if he had placed the “only” one word earlier, in front of “helps.” In this case still true, perhaps, but not his point.

By the way, in the fourth panel, that’s a rectangular prism, not a cube. But I digress.

PS—Here’s another typical incorrect “only.” Second word balloon. It should be “only last week.” (Ignore the “only” in the first word balloon. It shouldn’t even be there.)

(n.b.: When you say “another repeat,” you’re implying the existence of at least three of whatever you’re talking about, the original, the repeat, and the another.) Anyway, I’m sure I mentioned this solecism in the past, but I can’t find a single post about it. So maybe I need to, um, repeat the lesson!

Don’t say, “try and [do something]” 
Say “try to [do the something].”

Here are a couple comics. One gets it right and one gets it wrong. 

Maybe the rabbit needs better grammar more than he needs a shower!

Try to google n.b. if you don’t know what it means.